Throughout the Years
by Yukai yami
Summary: Giftfic for Sadiik3000 for comment #100 on Unexpected Changes. When Norway collapses due to the Oslo and Utoya incidents, a chain of events make the Nordics recall their days from their Viking years and a certain nation they had forgotten about for a long time... Canada x Nordics Friendship story. Rated for language and blood. Human names used.
1. Chapter 1

**Throughout the Years**

**A/N: **This is a fanfic for sadik3000 for being the 100th reviewer in Unexpected Changes who requested a Nordics and Canada story (a really…really…._really_ long time ago). I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed actually finishing it! I split it into two different chapters since the whole thing passed 10K words and seemed too long for a oneshot.

**Disclaimer:**_** I don't own any Hetalia characters or anything, whether real or fictional. The Oslo and Utoya incidents are, however, quite real (July 22, 2011) and you should take time from your schedules to give it a read if you never heard of them. I know Norway is a great nation and its people will rise and grow from this and hopefully, something that terrible will never happen again. My condolences to those who lost family or friends in both events, my best wishes are with you.**_

**Warnings:** Usual T-rated stuff… some cursing, some possible violence, nation and human names used, OH GODS THE HISTORICAL INACURACY WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN, OOC portrayals since I know nothing of how the Nordics act like (Denmark and Sweden are like SATW in this…), and this takes place after episode 52 of Hetalia World Series (Iceland and Norway know they're brothers).

* * *

Late into July, the second to last World Meeting for the whole summer was taking place. It was a relief that the last day of the seemingly never-ending conferences was almost upon them. Most nations just wanted to call it a day and head to their respective homes, or at least to a nearby bar to party. Hardly anyone wished to stay one more minute inside the stuffy building, not to mention the whole room had a tendency to erupt into chaos and pandemonium every half hour or so; add in the summer heat, and even the most patient of nations was on edge.

Thankfully, that Friday it was decided they would break earlier than normal due to rising tensions between America and Russia. The last argument between the two had been anything but pretty… Even Italy who often failed to read the atmosphere could feel the tense ambiance inside the room and that was saying something. Therefore, due to a unanimous decision, the day's reunion would end early and continue the next Saturday morning.

As yet another nation took his turn at giving his report to the room, many others were trying to entertain themselves with other manners without letting the usual strict nations, mostly Germany and Austria, catch them. But even as every single person inside the room searched for way to evade falling asleep, one particular Nordic representation couldn't help but feel uneasy for some reason. He felt slightly nauseous and unnaturally out of focus, not paying attention at anything but a certain spot on the table before him. To anyone else, he might've looked like his normal, aloof self, but his fellow Nordic companions could see that something was off.

"Hey Norge, you okay? You looking a little pale," at the blank look Berwald gave him, Mathias rephrased his words, "Well, paler than normal, whatever..."

Tino leaned in a bit from Berwald's right to get a closer look at Lukas, "He's right… are you not feeling well? If you're ill, you could leave early to your room, I'm sure Germany would understand."

Lukas shook his head slightly, not breaking eye contact with his spot on the table. "I'm not sick."

"… You look it…" Emil didn't want to show it, but he was quite worried about his big brother as well. Even though he hated showing affection in a brotherly way towards Norway because of how embarrassed it made him feel, he couldn't help but show a little that he cared.

Berwald nodded. "Y' should rest for a min'te-"

"I'm fine." Lukas cut in with more force than needed. He needed silence for a moment. Something was wrong and he knew it. Call it his sixth sense or a perk from being a nation… but he felt uneasy, and it worried him. Maybe it had been rude to react in such a way to a well-mannered comment, but… This whole thing was messing up his mind. If it was something related to the 'unknown' or magic, he would've known what it was in an instant, but this went deeper… It had to do with his people, he knew it.

"Dude, don't have a fit! We're just concerned, nothing bad," Mathias huffed silently, crossing his arms and resting against his chair completely. He muttered something about 'trying to be nice' and 'someone's having their period' and such.

"Never thought I'd say th's," Berwald sighed, "But Denm'rk's got a point."

"Hey, hey, hey…" Mathias was about to stand from his seat and lunge at the Swede. If he was looking to insult him into yet _another_ fight, he'd be more than willing to play along.

"N-now, let's all calm down!" Tino tried his best to calm down the two tall nations, even if he couldn't do much from his seat without getting scolded by Germany, "We don't want another fight right after America's and Russia's, after al—"

**THUD**

All nations in the room jolted a bit at the unexpected and loud noise. It came as a surprise, since everyone had tried to keep quiet with all the tension present, and until then, everyone had resorted to whispering out their conversations. Most were confused now, since there was nothing in the seat from which the loud sound came from, and almost no one had seen what caused it.

Emil, who had kept a close eye on his brother since his reply, could only stare in shock, not understanding what he had just witnessed. He hoped he had merely imagined the scene somehow, but the proof laid out for everyone to see. Norway had just clutched his chest tightly, before going stiff and falling off his chair, hitting the ground with remarkable force. He went pale when it finally registered that Norway was lying face down on the floor, and he _just. wasn't. moving._

"B…Brot…her…"

It was only when Emil started stuttering out his words that Mathias noticed his friend out cold on the ground.

"Norge!"

"Lukas?" Tino and Berwald bolted from their seats along with Mathias to kneel besides their friend. Emil did the same, but at a slower pace due to his shock. It wasn't normal for a personified country to do that out of the blue, and his youth ensured that was his first time witnessing something like that.

When Mathias raised Lukas' body slightly off the floor so he could get a clearer look, what he saw made him cringe and worry. Tino and Emil gasped upon the alarming sight and Berwald proceeded to call the hospital on his cell phone.

The front of Lukas' pearl white dress shirt, specifically over his heart, was drenched with red.

Norway was bleeding from his heart.

* * *

"Whoa dude, so crazy… I can't believe something like that happened right in the middle of a conference!"

Shortly after the incident with Norway, the whole meeting that Friday had been placed on hold until the next Sunday. Thanks to Berwald's quick thinking, an ambulance arrived quickly and carried Lukas along with his worried friends over to the nearest hospital. From years of experience, the other nations knew that spontaneous bleeding from areas near the heart most likely meant that some grave incident had occurred in that nation's capital, and their assumptions were correct. Mere minutes after the Nordics were driven away, breaking news reached the conference of a bombing in Youngstorget, more specifically, a government building inside Oslo, Norway's capital. Presently, America was freaking out to Canada about what had occurred, not noticing the news did nothing to ease the violet-eyed boy's worries.

The artic nation gripped his bear tighter, burying his nose into the soft fur. He lightly murmured out his words, "I hope he's all right…"

"Huh? Wait up…" Alfred shot his brother a small glare, "When you came over and burned my white House to the ground, you didn't even bat an eye, but you feel sorry for someone else?" He crossed his arms and pouted slightly. "Not cool, bro."

"First of all, Alfred Frederick Jones, I burned your White house _after_ you invaded York, so you, quite frankly, deserved it." Even with the face of his now guilty-looking brother, Matthew pushed on, "Besides, burning and bombing are completely different things. This was done by a human, after all, not another nation. Norway must feel terrible."

America started on his way out of the conference building, Canada close behind. "Well, you'll find out if the dude is fine this Sunday." Canada nodded, remembering how the meeting would be held back a day due to the events, "Just worry about not getting your panties in a twist before then, 'kay Canuk?"

Canada just shrugged, ignoring the nickname completely. For now, all he could do was wait, hoping for the best and expecting the worst. He really did hope Norway was okay. Hopefully, he would recover safely from this…

* * *

Inside the hospital closest to the World Conference building, all Nordic nations waited patiently for word from a specialized doctor with Norway's results. They knew something like this couldn't kill a nation, but they did know that it could hurt like hell. Denmark was resting against a wall, tapping his foot impatiently to make time pass by as the other three Nordics occupied the only chairs in the long hallway outside a hospital room. Sweden looked the most composed, but was truly just as worried as everyone else. Finland had taken it upon himself to help Iceland come to better terms with the situation, since the younger nation was quite shaken up with everything that happened. He didn't mind in the least; making Iceland feel better gave him something else to focus his pent-up restlessness on besides his hurt comrade.

Just a few moments ago, the situation had turned for the worst. Shortly after the bombing in Oslo, there was a shooting at a Labour Party Youth camp in an island called Utoya, which was also part of Norway. The panic coursing through his people at both unusual and violent incidents was taking a heavy toll on Lukas, and his normally emotionless face was contorted in great discomfort and pain as he was driven to the hospital in an ambulance.

To make matters worse, the other four Nordics knew nothing about what was happening until they were asked to wait outside Norway's room. The only learned of it after Finland had accompanied Iceland to the cafeteria for a drink in hopes of calming him down. However, as they sat with chocolate-filled cups, a nearby television had shown information on the Oslo bombing as well as the Utoya incident. Iceland had dropped his drink to rush to Norway's side, and would've been most likely kicked out had Denmark not seen him and hold him back from bursting into the emergency room. When Finland finally caught up with the rest, he explained the situation and Iceland was told to sit tight and not do any rash actions that might've had them all expelled from the building. Even if Mr. Puffin expressed his distaste at being ordered around by others, his owner followed orders and patiently sat outside his older brother's room; he tried to ease his worries by tightly grasping his pants with his fists every now and then, but it hardly helped at all.

The four people spent the better half of two hours like this, all equally anxious for an update on the Norwegian's status.

"Dammit, I can't believe all this shit's happening. If I ever get my hands on that asshole that did all this to Norge I'll make him wish he'd never been born…"

"Will brot—," Iceland stopped. He couldn't find himself to call Norway his brother right now; if he so much as mentioned his name, he was sure his words would stay lodged in his throat and he'd lose some of the composure he regained. "He will be just fine, right...?"

"Huh? Well, duh Ice." Denmark stated as if it'd be the most obvious thing in the world, "I mean, this _Norge_ we're talking about. Before long he'll be up and running like the bothersome guy he is."

Even if Matthias smiled as he said the words, everyone could tell he was forcing himself to be like that. Granted, Norway was a strong nation and would undoubtedly heal himself from everything as long as the nation itself existed. However, nobody could say anything about how his mind would recover. Physical trauma and mental trauma were completely different things, after all.

Tino ran his hand through Hanatamago's short fur, his eyes not really staring at anything as he murmured his and everybody's thoughts. "All we can do is wait, and be right there when he wakes up. We'll be the first ones to say 'Good Morning' to him when he opens his eyes again." Berwald placed a hand on his wife's shoulder and let Tino rest his head on his own shoulder.

Like Tino said, all they could do was wait.

* * *

As a nation, hearing voices inside your head was disturbingly normal. Those were the voice of your people, and unless time was taken to learn how to block them out of your personal thoughts, their ever-changing words would clash and mingle inside your head. When a representation lost control of themselves and became unconscious, it was common to hear the buzzing of various voices soon after waiting up. Norway was quite surprised at the words of his people after he recovered consciousness.

He'd be honest; he expected utter panic, chaos and various conflicting thoughts clashing violently within him, but reality was much more different. Of course, there were certain individuals who felt lost and didn't know _what_ they could do, but what he heard - and more importantly _felt_- took his breath away in every positive meaning of the phrase.

Determination.

Hopes.

Faith.

Even before such a terrifying ordeal, the people of Norway stood tall, unrelenting to the despair their own nation felt in his heart. He wouldn't lie that he felt a bit embarrassed that his people were in higher spirits than he was, but it was better this way. It wouldn't do any good if people told him how sorry they were or how bad they felt for him – he wasn't one for pity and it wouldn't get him anywhere—but his own people standing up and doing something about their misfortune made him feel something every nation loved to feel about their own.

_Pride_.

The words his Prime Minister offered the media resonated quite strongly inside his mind: "No one will bomb us to silence. No one will shoot us to silence. No one will ever scare us away from being Norway." Even if his smile didn't show, Norway could feel it bubbling inside. Honestly… he just woke up and he could already tell everything bad would change for the better, slowly, but surely. Lives were unfortunately lost, and people were injured. He obviously cared and felt for them; every single one of his citizens was like a son or daughter to him. But he knew what he could do now was make sure that such an event would never happen again and make sure no more innocent lives were lost if something similar repeated itself. Even if it wasn't necessarily another explosion or a mass murder like this time, it'd be best to be prepared. It'd be naïve to think an uncontrollable disaster would never happen; it was inevitable.

And speaking of uncontrollable disasters that were inevitable, just _where_ was—

"Norge! You're awake! Holy shit it's for real! Dudes, he's blinking and everything!"

Giving a deep sigh, Norway mentally facepalmed. 'Speak of the devil…' He didn't get the chance to completely finish his thought before being glomped by the tall Dane. He could barely hear Finland's words over the rushed mess Denmark was yelling out.

"Matthias! Lukas just woke up so give him some time to get his bearings together!" When Denmark showed no signs of letting go, Sweden came to Norway's rescue and pulled the Dane away by the back of his collar. Now that the hospitalized Nordic could finally focus on his surroundings, he could see his little brother standing awkwardly by the doorway.

"…" Iceland stood by stiffly as everyone, Hanatamago and Mr. Puffin included, gathered around the hospital bed. Mere seconds before, he had been endlessly worried about his older brother and his health. Even after the doctors had said that Norway's condition would always be stable so long as the physical nation still existed, the younger boy couldn't help his concern. The moment the Norwegian regained consciousness, the other Nordics nearby immediately noticed and Iceland almost pushed Denmark away for entering the room first. But now that he was standing there inside, looking how Norway looked considerably better and in no danger, Iceland couldn't help but feel silly about worrying so much.

Finland easily noticed the younger nation's unease, and decided to help him a little, "Matthias, give Emil a moment with Lukas, he's been as worried as the rest of us—"

"H-Hey!" Iceland blushed slightly at the words, not wanting to admit that he lost his composure just earlier that day. Norway would _never _let him live it down if he found out. He turned to see Norway's reaction to the statement, and even if he couldn't see any visible change on the outside, he could tell his older brother was definitively interested in what Finland had just said. "Don't get me wrong… It's normal to worry, right? It's not like I thought you'd never get better or anything…"

Lying wasn't Emil's strong point, and Lukas knew this perfectly.

Grinning widely from where he got to Norway's side again, Denmark couldn't help but tease the kid a little bit. "Worrying is one thing, but having a breakdown is something else completely~."

Iceland could only imagine how red he must've looked by then. He tried and failed to make himself less noticeable by focusing his gaze in something else, like his shoes. He couldn't even bring himself to look his brother in the eye lest he make a slightly bigger fool of himself.

"…Big brother."

Iceland looked up at Norway, as did everyone else upon hearing him speak. "Big brother. Call me big brother again right now." The look of pure seriousness on his face would've made anyone think it was a matter of life and death, but the Nordics all knew better. Denmark couldn't help but burst out laughing from his spot, Berwald let a smile show and Finland tried his best to cover his giggles behind his hand.

Emil could feel his embarrassment rise even more. "Y-you wake up and _that's_ the first thing you say…?"

"Why not?" Matthias kept grinning mischievously, enjoying every single moment, "You sure said it enough times as you fussed over Norge, didn't ya'? 'Oh big brother~, how I hope you're all right~! Big brooooother~!' Hahahaha!"

"What?! I-I did not such thing! You…liar! Argh! I'm out of here!" Iceland stormed off in a hurry, Mr. Puffin flying closely behind as he tried to deny everything Denmark stated. He knew the Dane was just pushing his buttons, but honestly! He spent the best half of the entire day worrying, the least he could do was be a little considerate and not help stir Norway's unusual fixation with him! He did his best to ignore the intense gaze Lukas sent him while he repeated his words like a mantra. Honestly, it reminded him way too much of how a certain Belarusian girl obsessed with _her _brother…

"Um, hehe, that wasn't too nice of us, he really _was_ worried about you, Lukas." Finland finally managed to stop enough from his giggling fit to make a coherent sentence. With help from Sweden, they pulled Denmark off the bed (as he whined about wanting to stay longer) and decided to let Norway rest for a bit longer while they searched for Iceland, not noticing some 'invisible' beings exiting the room along with them. Norway just gave a small nod and settled more into his sheets, still exhausted from the whole ordeal.

Laid still while staring at the perfectly white ceiling, the man couldn't help but think of more peaceful days, many years ago. Back when half the inventions in the world still didn't exist and something like bombing a government building was unheard of. Back then, the Nordics basically ruled the north, and though battles were something that followed closely wherever they went, it was still something Norway missed, though he'd surely deny the thought. More often than not, he found himself lost and thought and becoming increasingly nostalgic. God knows exactly how nostalgic he'd be if he didn't have his magical companions from years past to keep him company with their tales of old, even if they had left him to rest with the other nations. But even their tales and wistful stories of how things used to be were nothing compared to the actual thing. Of course, even if those days were long gone, he still had the memories and he could thank his lucky stars for that.

Those memories would just have to do for now.

* * *

That place was full of dust.

He was not kidding; it seemed as if all the dust bunnies in the house ran in that room, multiplied like their namesake, and spent the rest of their lives rolling around in their own filth. It was all it took for Matthias to not slam the door and lie about cleaning the place up.

Why did he even have to do this again?

Oh yeah, because Finland said he should be 'nice' to Norway and not try to raise his blood pressure by bothering him. The very thought… he knew how to be calm and collected and all that pansy-shit. He just chose not to be… y' know… ever. Still, the others had a point, sort of, so he offered Norge anything he wanted, anything at all, and he'd do it. He didn't see any harm in that; at most, Norway would probably ask him to get some pictures of Iceland sleeping or something and he wouldn't worry about his friend's possible stress level if he just stared at that.

But noooo…

That Norge… out of all the things he could've asked the awesome nation to do, he had to ask to clean the attic? That place probably hadn't been touched in the last couple of hundred years and it was covered with every single dust particle ever created. Hell, he felt his allergies have allergies the place was so dusty! Why had the shorter nation even thought about the place? Was it something to keep the Dane occupied while he did god knew what or talked to his 'magical companions' in private, or just out of spite for something he might've done? He'd already apologized (against his will) to Iceland for the teasing at the hospital and the last prank involving the Norwegian was last week, long enough for any revenge to have been extracted if wanted. He just wouldn't be able to figure out what went on inside the other blonde's head…

Resisting the urge to sigh, lest his lungs be filled with dirt, he tied the handkerchief around his neck tighter against his mouth and nose and took a few more steps inside. He better as hell not find any hidden cameras or such of this cleaning. Not only would his whole social status be dragged across the floor at the next meeting, the Swede already planned to _never_ let him live this down after all, but his manliness and image as the one who failed to give a shit would be questioned… Dammit, his reputation had many centuries of careful planning and consideration put into it!

Somewhere out there, someone had to be laughing at his misfortune, he just _knew _ it…

* * *

Norway was enjoying his few moments of utter silence and bliss. Yet, knowing Denmark, he'd give the peaceful atmosphere ten minutes, tops, before the tall nation barreled down the stairs complaining about something trivial. If it hadn't been for his wistful thinking of the past back in the hospital room, the brilliant idea wouldn't have even crossed his mind. Did he feel a little guilty for sending Denmark up to clean that dirty and disease ridden place? Yeah. Of course he did.

Really.

No lie.

Anyway, the main point was Norway had a few minutes of silence, and he wanted to bask in the serenity of every single of them. Even the trolls and magical creatures than often accompanied him were away at the moment, respecting his wishes for peace. That Friday got way too noisy for his tastes. The explosions, shattering of glass and gunshots all resonated loudly through his mind as it happened. Truth be told, his ears were still ringing slightly. Then again, that might've been from everyone's constant fussing over him, especially Finland who refused to let him do 'hard labor' such as walking to the kitchen alone for the last hours. For the next pair of hours after he woke in that hospital bed, every noise was heightened to annoying levels. He was glad he could just lie down on the couch like he was doing.

He was usually tidy and hated the idea of anybody placing their feet or shoes up on the sofa cushions, but he spared expenses for himself this time around. His head rested on a fluffy embroider-pillow England had given the Nordics some time ago as a Christmas present that time when Finland reigned in quite the number of nations to help during the holiday and curled his knees slightly into his body. Though the big house was shared among all five nations, Finland had taken Sweden and Iceland for a 'walk' around the block after Norway all but glared them out of the house. He finally found a way to keep the Dane quiet and he'd be darned if the easier three of their bizarre group would keep him from what he wanted. Iceland was easy enough to convince; he had the option to go or call Norway his big brother again, and frankly any of the two would've made him happy, but Iceland choose the former option, marching away along with the other two, blushing and sighing at the same time.

Well, he was quite content right now, too.

Now _this_… _this_ he could get used to. Total silence; tranquility; no loud yells, no terrified screaming, no explosions nor shattering glass… He didn't even wish to sleep… he just wanted to lay in peace for a few precious moments.

Yet, even if sleeping wasn't his plan, he couldn't help the alluring pull on his consciousness, and soon enough, he couldn't even tell if he was still awake or not…

…Until an annoying pressure crept up his spine and assaulted the base of his head. It was light and barely noticeable at first, but with time, the pressure grew and demanded the Norwegian's full attention. The man knew this feeling all too well, and couldn't help but sigh exasperatedly knowing his "break" was over. This building pressure always gave away to a headache every single time. Why? Simple; it was his Denmark-radar, capable of telling him exactly when his loudmouthed companion would be "popping up" unexpectedly. Sure it helped whenever the Dane planned one of his usual pranks or dubious "games", but it gave him the curse of knowing when his tranquil moments would end soon. As a matter of fact, if his feeling was correct, Denmark should already be halfway down the—

"Norge! Holy shit, Norge! You won't believe what I just found!"

Thankfully, the couch Norway was laying on had its back facing the stairway the other was running down. He laid perfectly still, embroiled pillow still in his arms, as Denmark gave a quick glance across the living room and burst into the kitchen still looking for the smaller blonde. Norway was left wondering if he'd actually gotten away from Denmark's search unbothered. That would've been a lucky break.

"Norge! There you are! Why didn't you reply when I called you before?" Denmark asked form the side of the couch, looking the other in the eye with a giant shit-eating grin.

'Damn it…' cursed Norway in his head. He barely had time to pull his legs closer to the rest of his body before Denmark jumped where they were a second earlier. Glaring at the Dane for almost crushing his legs, he swore to do bodily harm if he started bothering him. Needless to say, he didn't look as intimidating as always while he held on to the decorative pillow and went blatantly ignored. Denmark started talking a mile a minute.

"I was cleaning that mice-infested place when I came across this old box-"

"There're mice up there?"

"—So cool 'cause it had a lot of things from the Viking years! After I moved the box outside and shook off the dust—"

"You got the hallway outside the attic dirty?"

"—Our helms and everything! I even found that old skirt-thing you got from Scotland when we visited for that old meeting—"

"You said you burned that."

"- even found some old Polaroid pictures from some old festivals. There was this one picture where you were completely smashed-"

"I swear I'll use the Skjold to attack you the next time you're even remotely close to a body of water."

"—but it didn't look edible anymore so I put it in the hallway so the mice can eat it-"

"That _includes_ the bathtub."

"-And look! It's our old journal from before we went to the 'New World'! How kickass is that?!"

Norway sighed to let go some of the anger he felt from his friend's ramblings. He made a mental note to call an exterminator before looking to the tattered leather book in the Dane's hands. It was falling apart and looked as though it wouldn't last three more seconds without disintegrating into pure dust. It took him a moment, but Norway suddenly remembered it; it was quite old, a couple of hundred years old, actually. They used it to keep record of their events on their voyage to the 'New World'. If he recalled correctly, it stayed tucked into a box when they moved their house before the last. Had it stayed in that box all that time?

Inhaling a big amount of air, Denmark blew the dust off the cover of the book, not caring about the floor getting dirty. At his friend's glare, he offhandedly mentioned that he'd make Sweden clean it up later, which was Matthias-speak for 'procrastinating'.

As Norway grabbed and grasped the book as gingerly as one would with a porcelain doll, Denmark couldn't help but make his grin wider.

The Dane was glad his friend seemed interested in the book. Maybe it'd help him pass the time for a while and make him forget about the day before. If it helped his friend in any possible way, then he'd guess he could handle doing a little cleaning in that dust-ridden place.

…

…But...

…

It was just so dirty! He didn't want to go back to cleaning!

He got an idea just then. "Stay here, Norge! I'll call Tino and the others to come by so we can look at it together. Oh man, I wonder if there's anything I could use as blackmail on that Swedish hardass… That'd be awesome!" He didn't stay any longer, bolting to look for his phone in his room, oblivious to the purplish-grey eyes looking at his retreating form up the stairs.

Letting out a particularly long sigh, Norway asked himself why didn't he send Denmark away to work on something far away from the house instead…?

Feeling he had nothing better to do and nothing else to lose, he leafed through some pages absentmindedly. As expected, he found most pages had grown yellow with age and some seemed to be still glued to the book by sheer luck. A particular page broke loose completely but Norway caught it in his hand before it fell to the floor. He reclined against the sofa and stared at the loose page with a bored expression. He read the date: a few weeks before they left for the 'New World'. On that voyage they had discovered a part of North America, he remembered, though the exact name and place escaped his mind for some odd reason. More interested now, he read on.

_XX/XX/XX_

_Big news today. Iceland's boss decided to send some explorers on a voyage, to the 'New World' no less. I'm still skeptic on the whole idea. I mean, he'll definitively find something he's not ready for, not as a personification, anyway. The kid is just a little baby, can hardly walk in a line without tumbling down, much less lead an expedition. That's why the rest of us offered to accompany the tyke along. Finland was more than happy to come along, though that bastard Sweden decided to tag along as well. Norway volunteered too and being the awesome guy I am, how could I let them go on their own? They'd be dust without me and my axe, after all._

_We're leaving in two weeks. Wonder what we'll find._

Despite his crude manner of writing on a shared journal, Denmark had explained the orders and procedures for their departure in, surprisingly enough, a very detailed manner. With his overly goofy attitude nowadays, it was usually hard to imagine Denmark being serious and concentrated on a task.

Not too long afterwards, said nation strolled down the stairs at a leisure pace. "Called 'em! I'm sure they're on their way over as fast as they can." He jumped over the back of the sofa and dropped on the spot to the Norwegian's left. His grin almost told more about an undeclared prank than his voice and eyes compared. "So? Read anything yet?"

Norway blinked. "Yes. It's interesting."

The other arched an eyebrow. "…Really?"

"Yes." He slipped the fallen page in its proper place between the dates.

"…" Denmark, for the life of him, couldn't tell if he was being serious or sarcastic. It was that expressionless face and emotionless voice thing he did sometimes… It annoyed him when he couldn't tell what Norge was thinking. Sure, he ignored the other's death glares constantly, but he still could tell if the other was annoyed or not. He gave a childish pout and grabbed the book from the other's hand without warning. "Then lemme read to you, that way I can see what's so interesting!"

Norway gave him a particular blank stare; Denmark was glad he could tell Norway was feeling annoyed with his decision.

"Lemme see… "

_XX/XX/XX_

_We're getting on the boat tomorrow. Everything's pretty much ready and accounted for. We can't bring a year's worth of food or anything, but I'm confident we have enough. Heck, anything goes wrong, I'm sure we can fish while traveling. It's the freaking ocean, after all. Better yet, maybe I can convince Norway and the others of using Sweden as fishing bait…_

It was a good half second before Denmark started laughing at his own journal entry. Norway couldn't help but let his eyebrow twitch a little at the loud noise. "Man! I was almost as awesome back then as I am now! Let's see…what else is in here?"

As the Dane flipped carelessly through some pages, quiet nation beside him could only wonder how it was possible the book wasn't disintegrating into atoms before his eyes. It was well over three-hundred years old, after all. It was nothing short of a miracle to say the least. Maybe he had cast a spell on it once or something..?

"Hey, Tino wrote something here, too!" Denmark pointed to a page with much curlier and neat-looking handwriting on it. Leaning a bit forward on the couch so the light from the ceiling light bulb could illuminate the page better, Denmark started reading out loud once more.

_XX/XX/XX_

_It's been around a week since we set off on this trip. It's been interesting to say the least. Iceland's been a bit of a foul mood since it's the first time he's been so far away from his land but aside from that, he's been sleeping the days away. Mr. Denmark's been either running around for things to do or picking fights with Mr. Sweden. It's making things a bit tense during dinner. I try to ease everyone's moods, but with so many axes lying around the boat, that's easier said than done._

_Mr. Sweden says the way I acted was similar to a housewife. It's an extremely unnerving thing to hear from him of all people. I _really_ hope that was a one-time thing…_

The blonde man holding the book turned to his friend after reading the entry aloud. "Are you serious? Swede had it out for Tino's pants since back _then_?"

Norway gave Denmark the satisfaction of an eye-roll before taking the book and continuing to read aloud, ignoring the pout thrown at him from his ignored friend.

_XX/XX/XX_

_After a few months on sea, we can finally see the first signs of land on the horizon. So early in the morning, too. The closer we get the more exited the crew gets. Okay, I'm a little exited too, I'll admit._

_I hope the new scenery will _finally _make the unbearable tension between two particular nations be a little better… I'm tired of waking up to find what Mr. Denmark did to Mr. Sweden or what Mr. Sweden did for payback._

_We'll all need to be careful of where to dock safely and of what we might find h-_

The Norwegian nation would have finished reading the sentence had the front door of his house not been knocked open so forcefully all of a sudden. Finland, Sweden and Iceland all looked around the living room, as if looking for something. Iceland gripped the door frame a bit while he doubled over to catch his breath, Finland and Sweden seemed much better for wear.

"We're…here!" Iceland said between deep breaths. "Where's…the fire?!"

The way Denmark grabbed his sides as he merrily laughed out loud was the only hint Norway needed to know what had happened.

"Y-you guys, hahaha, look hilarious-! Haha, oh man, the look on Ice's face is _priceless_—Ow ow ow! Okay, I get it, not nice! Stop pulling my ear, Nooorge!"

"Oh thank goodness…" Finland let out a long sigh before walking further into the house. "I'm so glad there really isn't anything wrong…"

"Speak for yourself!" Iceland finally caught enough of his breath to push out the complete sentence before sitting down on one of the chairs in the living room, across from Norway. "I'm exhausted from running all the way here…" The silver haired teen glared at Denmark the entire time, Mr. Puffin doing the same with scaring similarity.

Laughing softly and nervously at the murderous intent slowly filling the room, Finland tried to continue the conversation with something slightly different. "Oh! I'm happy Su-san thought of this ahead and didn't call the firefighters! That would've been embarrassing to explain!"

"Again…" Added Sweden, who was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed and eyes closed. Even if he looked calm, everyone could tell he wanted nothing more than to fight a fight with Denmark for another one of his pranks.

"You're an idiot," muttered Norway, giving the Dane's ear one good last pull.

"But Nooorge!" he whined in reply, though he still grinned from how funny he found the situation, "They're here, right? So it doesn't matter!"

"Idiot doesn't begin t' describe h'm," remarked Sweden, hardly moving at all and still annoyed.

Denmark stood and marched over to Sweden, still grinning like a maniac, "Says the guy with pronunciation problems for the last hundred years."

"N-Now, guys!" Finland stepped up between the taller nations to make sure they didn't get too carried away, "Let's not start any fights, especially so soon after…" His words died in his throat as he glanced in Norway's direction. He still had no idea how to address the tragedy. Even if Norway was fully recovered physically, the events had only occurred the day before.

As if the topic had been the designated conversation stopper everyone was looking out for, all eyes in the room looked over to the lone figure sitting on the couch…

…Who seemed oblivious to everything as he continued to read the old journal in his hands.

"Hey! You continued to read the journal without me?!" exclaimed Denmark as he made his way back to the couch and much too close to Norway's definition of personal space.

"Journal?" repeated Iceland curiously.

"That's right," answered the Dane, leaning closer to Norway to read as well. "That's why I called you guys over. It's so cool, like 'Viking-years' cool."

"Huh? Really?" Now Finland wandered over to the duo to get a closer look at the book, Sweden close behind. He thought the old, yellowish and tattered look certainly fit a journal from so long ago.

Nodding to answer Finland's doubts, the Dane continued. "So far, we've read from when we went with Iceland to the New World, so yeah, it's _old_."

"New World?..." muttered the youngest Nordic. He rose from his lone seat and over to the group. "I don't remember doing something like that. Is this another silly prank of yours?"

"You w're quite youn' back th'n, Emil. I doubt you rememb'r much from so long ago," replied Sweden.

"Yeah, you were so small we just felt better going with you," smiled Finland.

"Ha! I want to hear all about this!" exclaimed Mr. Puffin loudly as he flew from Iceland's shoulder over to Norway's lap, getting the best view out of everyone. Aside from a brief glance in his direction for the sudden weight, Norway showed no objection to the small animal's decision. "Read out loud!"

"Shut up. I don't want to…" mumbled Iceland, not liking whatever could've been written there that had to do with him being a toddler. If even small notes regarding him sucking his thumb or changing diapers were written, who knew how Norway or Denmark would react. _'Mathias would probably use it as blackmail and Lukas…well, I'm not sure what'd he'd do, but it wouldn't be good,'_ thought the youth.

"…" Then, as if the burning intensity of a thousand suns were directed at him, Iceland could feel his brother's focused gaze straight on him. Even without uttering words, Iceland could tell Norway wanted everyone to know what was written on the pages of that disintegrating antique. "…"

It would only be a matter of seconds before Iceland gave in, everyone sitting on that couch knew it, even Iceland himself.

In his defense, fifteen seconds was a new record.

"…F-fine, read or whatever, just cut it out! How troublesome…"

And so, the Norwegian handed the journal to Denmark so he would continue from where he left off.

* * *

**A/N:** Next part will hopefully be out soon. By next week if all goes well.

The Skjold is a pretty kickass armored boat Norway has that, while small, can take down a whole fleet by itself. So my guess is that Lukas could use it to blow up Matthias when he wasn't expecting it if he wanted to :P


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

"God, I never thought I'd be so glad to see ice in my whole life!"

Denmark stretched his arms wide over his head and he all but screamed out the words. Out from all the nations and passengers on the boat, Denmark had been the first to jump onto dry land and yell out in excitement. As Norway watched him act like an overexcited kid he wondered why oh _why _did he decide to become friends with the guy?

Not to mention all the sudden noise had woken Iceland from his sleep, making him start a whole new crying fit. Sweden had almost tripped in surprise when the youngest Nordic started wailing in his arms all of a sudden.

From behind Norway, Finland gave a long and hard sigh, "And here I was glad that the tension was gone and that things had quieted down…It'll have to be some other time, I guess…"

A few hours later, after many humans were unloading items and objects from their ship onto dry land, Norway sat down on the cold beach of this whole new place they had sailed to. It all seemed to hit him just then. "We traveled many miles. We're very far away from our homes."

His words caught the ears of the kindest one in their group, who decided to sit beside him, a now-sleeping nations in his arms. "Yeah… We've sure come a long way. I'm glad we found land, but I hope we find food for the trip back amongst all this snow."

Nodding, the Norwegian took a glance at Iceland. The baby sucked his thumb while he slept; he was sure any normal human would've confused him for a normal non-nation if it wasn't for the boy's unnatural hair color. It was weird that all of Iceland's volcanic activities and ashes would've been reflected in the child's hair…

"He's taking it better now."

"Hm?" Finland didn't really understand the sudden statement.

Norway nodded his head in the youngest direction. "He's not as restless in his sleep as he was the first week we left his home. He's gotten used to not being in his nation unnaturally fast."

"Oh… Haha, maybe the younger the generation, the faster they adapt? I hope we don't get left behind!" Finland smiled happily despite the possible, negative way his statement could've been taken… Disappearing was always a sensitive topic when it came to nations…

"I want to explore _now_!"

"No."

"Fuck you, man. I don't need permission from you."

"No."

"Didn't you _hear_—"

"No."

The two nations sitting on the ground turned their heads a way behind them, where the last two men of their nation group were in yet _another_ argument. Finland was happy they hadn't had any problems for the first hours since they docked, but he preferred it when he and Norway didn't have to settle things between them. It was starting to get irritating…

With that, he gladly accepted Norway's request to hold the infant nation (Finland knew Norway preferred to take care of one baby nation than two grown nations acting like babies), dusted the bottom of his pants from the sand, and walked over to see what the fuss was about.

Following a few feet behind, Norway noticed how all the humans oh-so-conveniently had a lot more work to do when Denmark and Sweden started quarreling. '_Smart move…'_

Hardly bothered by the loud blonde's behavior, Sweden continued to explain his points. "No. We need t' focus on organiz'ng all our m'terial from the long trip. We need t' check how long our food w'll hold."

"Hell to that!" remarked Denmark, "What if there's civilization nearby ? Or wild and dangerous animals? Those kinds of things are more important! That boat's humongous, and unless giant sea monsters like to come unnaturally close to frozen beaches, it's going to _stay_ there. We can unpack anytime!"

"Will both of you quit it?" interjected in Finland once he was close enough to talk to them without yelling. Not that the same could be said for _them_… even Sweden's stoic voice could be loud when he wanted it to be. "Just arguing won't solve anything, we need everyone to have a say on the matter!" Not losing momentum, he continued, "And frankly, anything we decide will be fine since we have enough of people, but we need to focus on both gathering food for our return trip and building shelter, so please stop arguing for a few moments and _please _do something productive."

It took Finland a while to find out why everyone had quieted down for a few moments.

That was officially the first time Finland had spoken to Denmark and Sweden in such a firm voice, without being overly polite.

He went a bit red when the realization hit him full-on. "W-well, I'm sure that's the right way to do things…" he mumbled lowly. "How about you, Mr. Norway? Anything to say on the subject?" He was all too glad to put some of the unwanted attention off him.

"…" Norway silently looked in the direction of the forest some good number of acres away from where everyone had set camp. Still holding Iceland on one arm, he partially raised another to point in the direction of the seemingly endless amount of trees. "I see some fairies over there."

Conversation effectively terminated.

As if on cue, the infant in his arms squirmed as he woke. Though sleep still clouded his vision, he started to make noises of protest, unsatisfied with something.

"Oh?" Finland walked up to Norway at the first sings of the infant's discomfort, "He's probably hungry… I'll take him to see what food he can eat, okay?"

Grabbing the heavily bundled child, Finland gently rocked him back and forth in an attempt to make him happier. Before leaving, he turned to the others one last time, "And, you know…decide and stuff. Yeah…"

All three nations stood around awkwardly with nothing significant to say.

Finally, Denmark broke the silence with an unnaturally soft "I still think we should explore to make sure it's safe."

"We should keep unpacking" retorted Sweden silently.

And Norway just walked away, thinking he was friends with idiots.

* * *

_XX/XX/XX_

_Moi- moi, I can't believe I forgot about this journal! And we have a number of interesting stories for it, too! Let's see, a pair of months after that argument between Mr. Sweden and Mr. Denmark happened…_

* * *

Quite an amount of time had passed for the Vikings who traveled and reached the New World, which they decided to name Vinland. Since Denmark and Sweden had such trouble coming to an agreement on what to do, they mutually decided to do what Finland had suggested and separate everyone into groups with different tasks. Some stayed behind on the beach and would unpack their belongings, making records of what would be needed and what had spoiled and had to be thrown away. Others made small recon groups, searching the area far and wide for other sings of human life and dangerous beasts, only to come up empty handed on both accounts. The rest often searched for edible goods they could get. In the frozen and snow covered place, little edible vegetation could be found, and most food came from animals they could find both on land and sea. No matter how far they traveled, the Nordics could only find long frozen forests, long deserted plains, and views of faraway mountains. At this rate, there'd soon be little to do: their crew was too small to separate into a group headed to explore beyond their known borders of several miles and no humans planned on building permanent homes on such a lonely and cold place. Even if their Nordic homes were known for their cold climates, they had the comfort of many other humans and accurate maps of their locations among towns and cities. Not only that, but disturbing rumors had come to spread among their numbers…

Tales of a pale figure deep inside the cold, dead trees soon enough became common knowledge among the humans settled there. With each re-telling of the story, the tale became more and more ludicrous: soon enough, it changed from a figure into a ghost, then into a beast with eyes that glowed in the dark bearing long claws and sharp fangs. Hunters would return with words of hearing heavy footsteps following them deep between the trees, yet stopping near the border between the forest and the barren stretch of land leading to the hastily built village. No longer did humans feel safe about traveling the woods at night, and women would soon lock the doors on the temporary homes the men had built in the village.

The Nordics saw the tales from a different perspective; too young to be scared of harm or too experienced, knowing a physical death was impossible for them. Finland was mostly preoccupied of the effect such stories had on the human's morale; Sweden, who _had_ seen footprints in the snow too different from a humans to know something might've been about, was fine so long as such a thing kept is distance from them; Denmark was exited with the possibility of something far from normal occurring; Norway was curious, since the new kinds of magical folk he had encountered would keep quiet about what they knew.

Regardless, if neither considerable changes nor new discoveries happened in Vinland to convince them otherwise, the Nordics decided they would be ready to pack their belonging and return to Iceland.

* * *

"Man, this is all I ever use my axe for anymore… I can't believe I've been reduced to a simple lumberjack…"

Norway continued walking ahead of Denmark, trying to ignore his whines. This had just been a quick, last minute run for some materials Finland had asked them for that their temporary house had run out of. "Next time don't come." He deadpanned, not slowing his march by even a second, even with the heavy weight of several pieces of wood in both his arms.

"I wouldn't have, but I didn't want to stay alone with a crying baby and its mom. Heck, even this dude," Denmark jabbed a thumb in Sweden's direction, who was bringing in the rear as he carried a large net filled with fish from a nearby river, "says Tino's like a wife. I can't be the only one thinking that's just a…"

Norway eventually blocked off Denmark's voice, shifting the weight of the firewood he was carrying in his arms. He hadn't asked for an explanation, and much less everyone's opinion on Finland's characteristics, he'd just suggested what was on his, and no doubt Sweden's, mind. So he made his focus just remember the way back to camp.

RUSTLE

The trio stopped dead in its tracks. Even Denmark stopped talking and sported a deadly serious glare. The forest had been erringly quiet for a few minutes, most likely due to the proximity to the human's small makeshift village, which had made the noise sound even louder than it probably was. Animals so close to a human settlement were already rare in that type or artic climate, but the sound the battle trained nations hear wasn't one of a small squirrel or rabbit…it sounded… heavier… More cautious.

There was a chance whatever was near them had been trying to stay hidden.

It knew of the presence of the three nations.

Denmark softly and slowly moved his right arm to grasp the handle of his battle axe strapped to his back. Sweden and Norway took the time to look around them discreetly, trying to locate where the rustling had come from. Still inside the woods, the trees and pathways made an irritable echo of every sound occurring inside itself, whether they were voices or steps in the snow made no difference.

Suddenly, another rustle and what sounded like claws dragging across tree bark came shockingly close to them. As the Nordics turned to the sound on their right, they saw what they had been looking for…

White.

Big.

Fangs.

Claws.

Denmark's eyes shot wide open, his tight grip on his axe slipping a bit and his face paled.

"Holy cra-NORGE THAT'S A FUCKING BEAR!"

The grand beast's eyes roamed over the group, standing on its hind legs wobbly when the Dane's loud yell echoed and reverberated between the trees. A loud roar came from the bear's mouth, and the view of its fangs glistening with saliva did nothing to calm the sudden adrenaline rush and anxiety within the nations.

Denmark finally found the command that told his legs to 'fucking move' before he got slaughtered, and jumped back brandishing his spear. Sweden and Norway also snapped into an automatic reflex from years of battles and wars and found the way to stop staring and drop their items to react properly.

No sooner than Sweden had side stepped and took partial cover behind a tree did the bear land its front legs near the ground where he used to be. Norway ran to stand somewhere behind it, knowing he had no weapon to defend or attack effectively with, and was less of a liability staying out of the massive bear's sights. It was then he caught sight of golden among the grey trees and white snow.

Violet eyes glistening with curiosity stared back at his own.

"There's…"Norway barely mumbled utterly taken aback before shaking his head slightly and turning in the direction of his comrades. "There's a kid here! He's behind the bear!"

The heads of the other blonde men snapped in his direction. "There's a WHAT? Norge, are you freaking—!"

After the words were exchanged, the frightened kid shakily hid behind the tree it was standing by, letting out a small yelp when he tripped on one of the roots sticking out from under the snow. The bear turned around at the noise, and pawed its way closer to the child still.

Shaking off his confusion and taking this opportunity for an opening, Denmark pushed forward, battle axe in hand, and—

* * *

"…Arie? No, axe. Battle axe in his…in his hand, and… Uhh… swam? No, swung…"

"Would you get on with it?!"

Blue eyes neared the battered book, as if the closeness would help the Dane reading it understand the words written. "I'm trying ya dumb bird…" he gritted out annoyed at Mr. Puffin, "But since Tino's last entry, this writing's been all weird…It's like gibberish!"

Iceland huffed, now quite wrapped up in the story and wanting to know what happened. From his seat between Norway and Sweden in the sofa, he couldn't really see the pages either.

Leaning from Denmark's left, Finland eyes roamed over the handwriting quite easily. "Oh, there's nothing wrong with it. This is Su-san's handwriting. I can read it just fine from here."

"Are you kidding me?" Denmark looked over to Sweden on the other end of the couch. He rested his chin in his hand and asked with a straight face, if not with the hint of a laugh starting to form. "Dude, do you seriously write as bad as you talk?"

Right then and there, Iceland felt very unlucky to be sitting in Sweden's way to Denmark, from the way he was glaring holes silently. He felt the tiniest bit better that if something happened, Norway was there between the two as well and might do something to stop them, but the dread far outweighed the relief.

"Uhh… You know, I'll read Su-san's entry then! How's that? Better? Good!" the purple eyed man offered quickly and nervously as he took the fragile book from Denmark (who pouted a bit) and continued the story.

* * *

The surprise attack was all that was needed in the fight. After getting a wound on its left hind leg, the bear let out a deep howl of pain before barreling away deeper into the forest, and most importantly away from the nations and the child. All three men still didn't let down their guards, getting slowly out of their adrenaline-filled state and unwinding.

"…Holy fuck, I can't believe there are bears that big in this place…" Denmark let his axe drop unceremoniously and plopped down next to it on the ground. All the energy and anxiousness from that encounter was gone and the sudden rush of relief left his knees wobbly.

"Guess that's the beast everyon' was talk'ng about," added in Sweden, starting to pick up some of the material they had dropped. In his mind, the sooner they got out, the better. That bear had kept its distance from the town so far, so the quicker the trio was in a populated area, the safer and smoother things should go.

The Norwegian male was looking around the trees and behind nearby bushes, looking for that young kid he was sure he had seen mere moments before. He soon heard a small, whimpering sound somewhere out of his field of vision.

There, near the big footprints caused by the bear from when it ran away in an unknown direction, sat the small violet eyed boy he was looking for, making small whimpering sounds as he stared deep into the trees.

"…Is that it?" asked Denmark when Sweden and him finally checked what was in the Norwegian's line of sight. He could see the kid was quite young, though still older than Iceland by a long shot. He couldn't be older than five human years. The young boy wasn't wearing much, just an oddly familiar white dress that Denmark had sworn he had seen somewhere before…even the red ribbon around the kid's neck seemed oddly familiar for some reason…

Upon hearing the human words uttered from behind, the young child visibly stiffened and snapped his head to see the trio standing behind him. His soft purple eyed widened, and he didn't dare to move a single inch. If it weren't for the cold breath cloud still coming from his nose, Norway would've thought the boy wasn't even breathing. He wondered why the blonde boy acted in such a manner _after_ the visible threat was clearly gone.

"Hey, you think he wandered off from our camp or something? How the heck didn't anyone notice him?" inquired the Dane as he neared the boy, obviously invading the small child's bubble of personal space as he eyed him curiously. "Though I guess his dress is white enough to hide—" Denmark flinched away when the kid suddenly bursts into loud sobs and sharp shrills soon afterwards.

Denmark raised both hands up in a surrendering fashion. "I didn't do it! I swear!"

"Anyone'd cry if a much taller man th't can use an axe neared th'm like th't," commented Sweden as he pulled the Dane away from the boy by the collar of his shirt. "Is he hurt?" asked Sweden. He didn't see anything wrong with the kid, but he _had_ been behind a giant bear; maybe he was too scared to cry out back then.

"No, he isn't," replied Norway, as he kneeled beside the boy and picked him up. Upon realizing his feet were no longer feeling the ice-cold ground, the small child stopped his cried for a mere moment in confusion. He soon started panicking and squirming as soon as he saw he was in the Norwegians hands, almost getting dropped in the struggle. Norway could only sigh, "….although he acts like it…" He turned to Denmark, who hadn't been carrying anything back to camp before the whole ordeal, "Can you carry him back?"

"Umm, what? I don't do kids. Did my earlier words about Ice just fly by you?"

"I asked you to carry him, not to change his diaper," Norway deadpanned, the boy still letting out loud cries and squirming. He sighed and told Denmark to carry his share of firewood back to camp instead.

Gripping his axe tightly and securing it on his back once more, Denmark crossed his arms in an annoyed manner. "Maaaan, why is it whining like that? It's starting to give me a headache. Did he lose his pacify-face-sucker thing or something?"

"Pac'fier, and he's at least four years old, Matthias, he doesn't need a pac'fier," deadpanned Sweden while successfully resisting the urge to facepalm. "He's prob'bly scared. Let's look for his parents back at camp."

When he noticed his cries and squirming were having little to no effect, the kid gave up and settled for twitching slightly whenever a silent sob would hit him. The sight was enough to make any concerned mother flinch in guilt and concern. Norway was thinking everything was becoming more complicated than it needed to be. And just _why_ were all the new snow fairies he had met just giggling at him with a knowing look? More than likely they were planning to play a prank soon or something…

Sighing once more, Norway was certain things were going to become even more complicated soon…

* * *

Shortly after everyone returned to the village with the partially subdued child in Norway's arms and after finishing their tasks of material gathering did the nations come to a startling, and worrying, revelation. After filling Finland in on the details concerning their encounter with the white bear, everyone decided the best course of action would be to tour the town to see where the child's parents were. Denmark had moaned at the thought of asking everyone for a little whining brat's folks but he tagged along in the end, if only because of curiosity and lack of anything better to do.

They soon learned none of the humans at camp knew who the child was or to what family he belonged. No matter how long they asked or how many times they inquired, none of the new settlers had seen the boy before and his caretakers seemed nowhere to be found. Some of the women seemed fine with the idea of taking care of the adorable-looking kid if his parents remained without a trace and had no problem expressing this to the nations at every appropriate interval, and although the idea had seemed ludicrous at first, the continued absence of the boy's background made the chance of giving him to a substitute family all the more possible.

After the first hour or so, the kid had stopped freaking out over every bit of movement he saw and his cries had subsided. He still, however, refused to speak and looked at everyone with distrustful gazes. Judging that young blonde was at least four years of age, everyone knew he had to at least know basic words and most of the simple questions asked to him, but no matter how many times someone would ask him to provide his name or who his guardians were, he would remain tight-lipped and silent. Even Finland who was better with kids compared to the rest of the Nordics was at a loss on how to convince the boy to open up and speak. Denmark brought up the possibility of the parents being dead due to the dangerous beast they had fought what felt like mere moments before, but he himself voiced the lack of red on the pristine white-fur the bear had, along with the lack of blood or injury on the nameless child.

It just seemed as if the child had appeared from thin air…

Soon afterwards, Sweden had mentioned the probability of the child being mute due to his lack of answers or words for the better half of the day. Aside from the cries and tears the kid shed, no other sounds came from the kid. It certainly seemed likely that Sweden's assumption was correct…

Norway now knew why those snow fairies looked so mischievous earlier. More likely than not, they knew who the child was but no matter how many times Norway tried, they wouldn't give him any clear answers. They were having too much fun seeing the nations fumble for answers they knew but wouldn't provide. The only hint they provided was that 'they would know soon'.

That really didn't make Norway feel any better.

Thinking about everything, Norway could honestly see no other alternative than giving the child up for foster care if no answers came to the group. That thought made him uneasy somehow. There was something…not quite right with everything that was going on, and he couldn't quite put his finger on it just yet. It was right under his nose, he knew it. Something…something vital was hanging just out of reach and it irritated him. It was something incredibly important, but he couldn't figure out exactly what it was for the life of him. There had to be something special about this kid or else mythical creatures wouldn't really give him a second thought in comparison with other humans.

Hopefully he would find an answer soon. From what he could analyze, the nations weren't staying in Vinland for more than a couple of months. Soon they'd return home, and more likely than not, they'd leave this barren and cold land alone for many years to come.

He felt that if he didn't find his answer to his unknown question before then, it would remain out of his grasp for the rest of his life.

Norway gave a weary sigh and re-shifted the position of the boy in his arms, who barely even reacted to the change at all, seeming completely detached from the world around him. The soft-violet eyes of the kid looked glassed over but dried from all tears they once had. It was as if he was shutting down everything in favor of taking solace in his mind.

The last thought the nation of Norway had on the matter was that this was definitely become far more complicated than it needed to be.

* * *

**A/N:** Still not done with this story. Sigh, this sure got longer than a oneshot… I don't know when the next part will be out, but since I'm suffering from a block, I just wanted to get –something- out since I missed my deadline by about a week. Sorry 'bout that…

Kinda sure pixies are portrayed as tricksters, so I applied the same 'logic' to the snow fairies. Sorry if that's wrong, as I know next to nothing about folklore, myths and the likes.


End file.
